Hi all, we are going for 4th radiation treatment at noon today. i am going to drill the doctors about this cat thing, i am not believing it either. i have reccommended the suppositories like you all have said that sounds like a pretty good idea if she cant keep the oral ones down. the one thing i cant really understand is, if you can not eat because your throat is thrashed due to the radiation, how in the world can you throw up? and if you are using the feeding tube completely to nourish, can you throw up from that too? must go now, but as always i really really appreciate your responses, i am a daily reader now, and to all posts, not just my own. jamie

Hi Jamie,
First off I HAD to eat since I didn't have or want a PEG tube. I took morphine tablets for breakthrough pain prior to eating or drinking and sometimes used "pink magic" swish & spit to anesthetize my throat and cut the pain from swallowing. My throat was a burned out and blistered disaster area. I lost 60 lbs but am doing fine now.
It was no walk in the park. Everytime I threw up I knew I had to make up for it. It took all of my energy to acheive this. I still ended up in the ER twice to be rehydrated.
I HATED Ensure and Boost (made me gag) and got by with Carnation instant breakfast and milkshakes. Cold things seemed to work better. It was an unhappy time - thank God that it's passed -and it will pass.

Of course from all of the pain meds (including Fentanyl (Duragesic) patches I also had severe constipation, which by the way, also causes nausea. It also interupts homeostasis which contributes to dehydration and malnutrition -a real catch 22.

It's a toss up which was worse - the radiation burns and blisters or the constipation. My medical team could have done a better job managing the constipation.

The doctors recommended placing an ativan tablet in the compazine suppository and I did that as well.

IMHO you need to worry more about humanly transmittable bacteria. We kept the food prep and bathrooms disinfected as best we could. We used OTC products like Lysol and also a 10% solution of bleach and water (recommended by CDC) for disinfection. Beware of contaminated areas that are "choke points" such as banks and supermarkets (because everyone has to go there), door handles, etc. I used to wear gloves when shopping and still carry waterless disinfecting hand cleaner in my car. God knows what little snot nosed kid was putting his infected hands all over that shopping cart you're pushing around. My immune system totally crashed so this was not some kind of paranoid delusion. I avoided public places (even church) for quite some time. I would not allow my designated drivers (to radiation) to drive if they had sick family members. I asked others to open doors for me so I didn't have to touch the handles. I also asked people who were sick to stay away. If I sensed that I was in a room with a sick person I would leave immediately. Went I went to the SS office I waited in my car and made them come and get me - that place was FULL of sick persons -probably helped with my SSDI claim -who knows?. It worked well - I haven't had so much as a head cold the entire time - even now.

You may want to pay closer attention to the cat box. Animals can transfer worms so I wouldn't let them be licking any open wounds.

Hi,

I have three indoor/outdoor cats which were with me the entire time I was recovering from surgery and during radiation. The cats and I spend about 20 hours day curled up together from day 9 of radiation to the end. I don't know what I would have done without their warmth and company. If she is capable of taking care of herself, she would probably rather be home with her pets.

Take care,
Eileen

Gary you are awesome! you made me laugh. i am making a copy and giving it to my mom. i think the constipation is something that could be handled alot easier, i guess.
well, she looks and feels miserable. she said it was like having constant morning sickness, and geez i know how that is, i had it for nine months, both times! today we did the radiation and she came home, took a shower, took an anti nausea and fell asleep for about four hours. they just knock her out! sat the 5fu chemo pack will come out and i hope then she will begin to feel a little better. i just found these things called queasypops, in a magazine a sort of homopathic lolipop i am going to get them tomm and give them a try.
also i am wondering about lotions,balms etc for the radiation spots, i was doing my reading in the doctors office and there is a great magazine called "coping with cancer" they have lots of things it it and i ordered several samples already. we are going to hit on something that will work!
see you all tomm.. jamie

oh and eileen, thanks for the kitty input, i did talk to my uncles daughter today who said her dad likes to make up his own rules, so maybe that is not even true!! i also work with a lady who went through stomach cancer with her mom and they had six cats in the house all of the time. i think you are right, animals are wonderful when you are sick...

Jamie,

Usually the radiation place has samples of stuff that can help the skin. Where I went they had some organic aloe extract and Aquafor. I used both off and on and they really helped. When my neck was literally a bloody mess, I used this stuff called Domeboro. You mix the powder in water and soak a wash cloth in it and apply it to the burned area and it cleared up after one 15 minute treatment. It was at the oncology pharmacy over the counter. It works great on sunburn, too.

Ed

Jamie,

Usually the radiation place has samples of stuff that can help the skin. Where I went they had some organic aloe extract and Aquafor. I used both off and on and they really helped. When my neck was literally a bloody mess, I used this stuff called Domeboro. You mix the powder in water and soak a wash cloth in it and apply it to the burned area and it cleared up after one 15 minute treatment. It was at the oncology pharmacy over the counter. It works great on sunburn, too.

Ed

I don't know if I was just lucky, or if it was the Biafine cream they gave me a prescription for the first day of radiation, but I never had anything worse than a sunburn. used the cream three times a day, and washed gently with mild soap. - The day I came home from the surgery, my cat waited for me to settle in bed, then sat on my stomach purring all evening, and basicly staid there through my recovery + for hours every day during radiation. Only problem I can see is that the hair does irritate my throat now, have to use the vacuum cleaner a lot. Leena

People's responses vary from little skin reaction to severe burns and sloughing off of necrotic and dying tissues as in Uptowns case and my own. These external manifestations are treated as any severe burn, and because of the open wounds like fire burn victims people have to be on the look out for infections. Aquaphor coated my neck for months after radiation and I would have to say that the worst time was the first month after the end of treatment. The differences in response and severity are directly related to the volume and duration of exposure. No two cancer patients have exactly the same amount, hence the wide variety of comments about what they experienced.

Well guys, here is my sunday update, the home health care nurse came and gave her an iv bag yesterday because she has had a terrible week with the 5Fu chemo. she was oh so sick. couldnt keep anything down and was getting dehydrated. so yesterday they took the chemo off and today she feels a little better, she has been able to eat a few small things and said she had a fruit popsicle today that was the best thing she has ever eaten. The only wierd thing is she must be really weak or something because she fainted when she got up to go to the bathroom, and she had to sit in a chair in the shower to get cleaned up, she says she feels dizzy and weak, but is cheering up a bit. I got her some tapes to listen to from Dr. Weil. I love him.. Tomm is radiation treatment number six and so far her throat is not burned yet and the skin thing is yet to come, but i have ordered some samples of different products and my aunt bought some pure aloe vera gel. the nurse said she usually gives some samples of creams but is out, i will keep bugging her about that. Again I always appreciate your responses, why do you think they use the chemo/radiation combo? could you not get results from just radiation alone? my aunt had breast cancer last year and opted for the radiation alone and so far so good. the oncologist says the chemo makes the tumor more responsive to the radiation, my feeling is she had it so bad with this, she is not going to want to do it again the next time which should be the end of july.??? any thoughts talk soon jamie